If you read the Times' Thursday Styles piece today about beauty bloggers, you likely blotted your lips away from the article thinking anyone who starts a blog about make-up is in it for the free swag.

And, likely, you'd be right! We're nearly certain Glam.com, the self-proclaimed (but entirely inaccurate) No. 1 women's web destination, has constructed its entire business model off placing ads on these types of sites.

Except Times scribe Kayleen Schaefer didn't talk to the nobodies of beauty blogging. She talked to the established craftswomen of the biz, who long surpassed the notion that 300 words on Lancome scored you a free tube of eyeliner. Rather, it scored you bylines in major women's magazines, book deals, and a decent cheque from ad agencies.

Admittedly, we're a smidge biased here. Tia Williams, who was photographed for and featured prominently in the article, is the sister of Lauren Williams, who heads our Stereohyped blog. Tia also happens to be the co-author, with a little supermodel named Iman, of The Beauty of Color, successful It Chicks series novelist, former In Touch television face, and current senior editor at Fashion Week Daily. Does Williams, who reacted to the article here, really care about Victoria's Secret pajamas that much?

Schaefer's other sources include Nadine "Jolie in NYC" Haobsh, who turned her Ladies' Home Journal beauty editor spot, where she had closets full of swag, into a lucrative blogging gig and book deal, as well as the sometimes-grating Coutorture founder Julie Fredrickson, who, let's face it, isn't it the biz for the product; she sold her company to Sugar Publishing, publisher of PopSugar.com.

So while most upstart beauty blogs, and not necessarily including the ones Schaefer mentions, might be posting reviews with hopes of free purses and trips to Paris, the established set of lady scribes don't care how many MAC compacts are in that overnight tote. But next to their freelancing fees, consultancy gigs, book deal advance, and ad revenue, they're a nice bonus.